Mr Cole drives a KIA e-Niro 4+ 64kWh 2021.

This is Mr Cole’s first electric car, he’s owned the KIA e-Niro less than a year and drives 10,000-15,000 miles annually. The current mileage of the car is between 10,000-20,000 miles and he achieves 275 miles from a full charge.

Why did you choose the KIA e-Niro?

The car had good range, good efficiency and the price (2nd hand) was good. It also had lots of kit.

Positives – List 3 or more reasons why you love this electric car

• Running costs
• gadgets
• range
• eco credentials.

Negatives – List 3 or more things that you really don’t like about this electric car

• Lane Keep Assist and Lane Follow are really annoying
• as are all the warning beeps that seem to be compulsory on Korean cars
• the car does not have a froot/frunk.

Compared to when you first bought the car, does your battery still charge at the same rate & do you still get the same range?

Yes, range far surpasses claimed range in the summer as I will get over 300 miles. Even in freezing weather I get over 250. Charging rate is a bit slow on this car but it has not changed. Although there is no easy way to pre heat the battery for charging which is annoying.

Have you experienced any faults with the car? If so, what have they been?

No faults.

What are the standout technological features of the car?

• Cabin pre heat and defrost can be done remotely or scheduled from the app or car
• Android Auto is great for music, phone and navigation
• tracking efficiency on the app is also great
• I like the adaptive cruise control on motorways
• another great feature is when the car prompts me that stationary traffic has started moving again.

Surprise us! Tell us something people wouldn’t readily know about this electric car

It adjusts my seat when I get in the car. Totally unnecessary but it makes me chuckle to myself!

What’s the biggest or funniest myth you’ve heard about EVs?

There are so many myths. Where do I start?…bursting into flames, cost more to run, eats tyres, causes car parks to collapse, really unreliable, bad for the environment. The news articles where they claim an EV starts a major car park or ferry fire and turns out it was caused by a diesel car are the ones that have me in tears.

What electric car(s) are you interested in next and why?

The ones that really interest me are the affordable ones that are yet to come out. E.g. the new Renault 5 or VW ID.2, maybe Tesla model 2 if it exists. Not really interested in cars that cost 35k plus.

Home charging unit – outline both positive & negative elements

GivEnergy

Electricity supplier & tariff – outline both positive & negative elements

Octopus Go – really cheap to charge but only for 4 hours. I really like Octopus as a company but can’t yet switch to Intelligent Octopus Go which has 6 hours of off-peak because it is not yet compatible with my car or charger.

What public charging networks would you recommend to others and why?

The best charging network is Tesla because they are cheap but there are very few Tesla locations that are available for non-Tesla cars. Another favourite is Osprey Charging because they are cheap on my Electoverse card. I’ve never had to queue for charging but avoid trying to charge at peak times. Also, I have only experienced 2 broken chargers and there have always been alternatives. Perhaps I’m just lucky! My biggest gripe with public charging is that they are so expensive compared to charging at home.

Insurer – outline both positive & negative elements 

Admiral MultiCar – they have been fine with the usual exception that I need to call them every time I renew because they always try and hike the price too much until you call them.

Please itemise where you’re saving money (or not) owning & running a KIA e-Niro

OK, difficult one this but fuel costs are probably about £30 per month at the moment and I’m doing approx. 1,300 miles per month. I think that’s the equivalent to about £215 per month for petrol. So the saving during winter is about £185 per month. However, during sunnier months from April to September, I can charge my car for free using solar.

Insurance costs are slightly more than my petrol car at £800 but there again it is faster and has lots of gadgets, plus I have my 22-year old son as a named driver. I’m yet to take it for its first service since I bought it. All in all, I reckon I’m saving over £170 per month in running costs.

See other KIA e-Niro Owner Reviews here